The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-09-30

| tnere Is no nell. Wnut BlOrlOu
heaven they hold before us! Come, lie
us go in and see It. There is Herod ant
all the babes he massacred. There j
Charles Guitcau and Jim Fisk ant
Robespierrc, the friend of the Frencl
guillotine, and all the liars, thieves
house burners, garroters, pickpockets ant
libertines of all the centuries. They hav'
all got crowns and thrones and harps ant
scepters, and when they chant they sing
Thanksgiving and honor and glory ant
power to the broad religion that let us al
into heaven without repentance and faitl
in those disgraceful dogmas of ecclesiasti
cal old fogyism."
My text gives me grand opportunity
of saying useful word to all young mer
who are now forming habits for a life
time. or what use to stonemason OF
a bricklayer is q plumb line? Why not
build the wall by the unaided eye and
hand !? Because they are insufficient, be-
cause if there be u detection in the wal
it cannot further on be corrected. Be.
cause by the law of gravitatlon wal
must be straight in order to be symmet-
rical and safe. A young man is IN dan.
ger of getting defect in his wall of
character that may never be corrected.
One Of the best friends ever had died Of
delirium tremens at sixty years OF age,
though he had not since twenty years
of age-before which he had been dissi-
pated-touched Intoxicating liquor until
that particular carousal that took him
off Not feeling well IN q street on a hot
summer day, he stepped into a drug store,
Just as you or would have done, and
asked for dose Of something to make
him feel better. And there was alcohol
in the dose, and that one drop aroused
the old appetite, and he entered the first
liquor store, and stayed there until thor
oughly under the power of rum. He en-
tered his home raving maniac, his wife
and daughter fleeing from his presence,
until he was taken TO the city hospital to
die. The combustible material of early
habit had lain quiet nearly forty
years, and that one spark ignited the con-
flagration. Remember that the wall may
be one hundred feet high, and yet dehec-
ton one foot from the foundation affects
the entire structure. And if you live a
hundred years and do right the last eighty
years, you may nevertheless do something
at twenty years of age that will damage
all your earthly existence. All you who
have built houses for yourselves or for
others, am 1 not right in saying to these
young men, you cannot build wall SO
high as to be indepenent of the character
of its foundation? A man before 80
years Of age may commit enough sin to
last him lifetime. A cat that has killed
one pigeon cannot be cured. Keep it
from killing the first pigeon. Now John,
or George, or Charles, or William, or
Alexander, or Andrew, or Henry, or
whatever be your Christian name or SUI
name, say here and now: ''No wild oats
for me; no cigars or cigarettes for me;
no wine or beer for me; no nasty stories
for me; no Sunday sprees for me. am
going to start right and keep on right.
God help me, for am very weak. From
the throne of eternal Righteousness let
down to me the principles by which |
can be guided in building everything
from foundation to capssone. Lord God,
by the wounded hand of Christ, thrDw
me a plumb line!"
Lord Nelson's general direction when
going into naval battle was: No man can
do wrong that places his ship close along
side that of the enemy. Ny friend, you
will never do wrong if you keep your life
close alongside the Ten Commandments.
Do right, and you can be as brave as
Maria Theresa, who rode up the Hill of
Defiance and shook her sword at the four
corners of the earth.
But" you say, "you shut us young
folks out from all fun" Oh, no; 1 like
fun. believe in fun. I have had lots
of it in my time. But have not had to
go into paths of sin to find it. No credit
to me, but because Of an extraordinary
parental example and influence 1
was kept from outward transgres-
sions, though my heart was bad
enough and desperately wicked. / have
had fun illimitable, though l never swore
one oath, and never gambled for SO much
as the value of a pin, and never saw the
inside of haunt of sin save as when ten
years ago, with commissioner of police,
and detective and two elders of my
church, l explored these cities by mid
night, not out of curiosity, but that
might in pulpit discourse set before the
people tlle poverty anu Tic HoTIOTS OF
underground city life. Yet, though
never was intoxicated for an instant, and
never committed one act of dissoluteness,
restrained only by the grace of God, with
out which restraint l would have gone
headlong to the bottom Of infamy, have
had SO much fun that don t believe there
is man on the planet in the present time
who has had more. Hear 1t, men and
boys, women and girls, all the fun is on
the side of right. Sin may seem attract
i've, but it is death and like the man
The only genuine biness is in an hon
est Christian life. The Chippewa, want
ing to see God, blackens his face with
charcoal and fasts till he has vision of
what he calls God. My God can see
best when take my hat off and let the
sunshine blaze in my face, and after a
reasonable breakfast. He is not God of
blackness and starvation, but of light
and plenitude, and the glory of the
MONDAY sun is Egyptian midnight
compared to it. There they go
two brothers. The one was converted
a year ago in church, one Sunday morn
ing during prayer or sermon or hymn.